Twitter 2022: From misinformation to free speech, crucial readings on effects of Elon Musk's takeover

By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 26, 2022, 2:16 PM IST

There's considerable evidence that misinformation on social media reduces vaccine uptake and is making it more difficult for society to reach herd immunity. Another issue is that what happens on Twitter doesn't stay on Twitter.

People are growing numb to the daily assault of headlines proclaiming the latest stunning development involving new Twitter chief Elon Musk. Twitter has seen a rise in hate speech and technical problems as media reports say up to 75% of the staff has been cut since he took over.

In December 2022, unsettling news about Twitter included the disbanding of the company's Trust and Safety Council, the conspiracy theories and score settling of the "Twitter Files," QAnon's Musk-inspired revival, the suspension of the Twitter accounts of journalists covering the company, and a brief ban on links to rival social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Mastodon.

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Under these headlines lie crucial questions about the nature, role and state of social media in society. Prompted by Musk's acquisition of Twitter, The Conversation reportedly published several articles exploring these issues.

These articles from our archive look at the effects of content management, the dangers of COVID-19 misinformation, Twitter's underappreciated nature as a data source, Black Twitter's vital role in social justice movements, and the difficulties of starting over in a post-Twitter world.

1. Free speech, bias and manipulation: Among those that Musk's motivations for buying Twitter was to address his claim that the platform was biased against figures on the right. Twitter's own researchers, who had access to data not available outside the company, found that the opposite is the case " the platform is biased in favor of right-leaning voices".

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Musk said at the time he made his bid for the company that he intended to make Twitter a platform for free speech, and that free speech on Twitter was being stifled by excessive content moderation. Again, research shows that the opposite is the case.

To the extent that Twitter is an arena for free speech, it is an arena that is readily manipulated. "Astroturf" causes, trolling and misinformation are facilitated by bots and malicious users that appear to be the digital equivalent of crowds gathering around fabricated outrage.

2. Medical misinformation unbound: In November 2022, Twitter posted notice that it would no longer enforce its policy against Covid-19 misinformation. Fighting medical misinformation on social media has been an uphill battle, and the outcome has life-and-death consequences.

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Michigan State University social media researcher Anjana Susarla noted that social media facilitates the spread of misinformation and amplifies content that's likely to trigger heightened emotions.

There's considerable evidence that misinformation on social media reduces vaccine uptake and is making it more difficult for society to reach herd immunity, she wrote. Another issue is that what happens on Twitter doesn't stay on Twitter.

3. Pack your bags, but to where?: The changes Twitter is undergoing have prompted many people to leave the platform, and more to consider doing so. The potential depopulation of the social media platform is a scenario that University of Colorado Boulder information science researcher Casey Fiesler has seen-- and studied-- before.

There is 'essentially zero chance' that the majority of Twitter users can simply move to another platform and resume business as usual, she noted. Migrating to another platform is an uphill battle.

"When social media platforms fall, sometimes the online communities that made their homes there fade away, and sometimes they pack their bags and relocate to a new home," she wrote.

(With inputs from PTI)

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